Bel Fuse to Buy Emersonís Power Connectivity Unit for $98M

BROOKLYN, N.Y.— Interconnect vendor Bel Fuse Inc. continued to pursue its aggressive acquisition strategy to expand its revenue and market base with a $98 million cash deal to acquire the Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solutions (ECS) business of Emerson Inc.

Bel Fuse will add RF/microwave and harsh environment optical connectors and assemblies to its product portfolio. As a result, it will gain a greater presence in the military/aerospace, industrial and communications sectors, increase its copper-based product offerings, and make it one of the leading expanded beam fiber-optic suppliers, according to the company. Bel Fuse’s product line includes magnetics, power modules, circuit protection devices, and interconnects.

"The acquisition of ECS is a major step forward in our strategy to expand into the aerospace and military markets where long term product reliability resulting from highly engineered solutions is a key,” said Daniel Bernstein, president and chief executive of Bel Fuse, in a prepared statement.

The company didn’t provide a breakdown of revenue by end market. However, the company said that ECS, which is Bel Fuse’s third major acquisition in the past 14 months, will push Bel Fuse’s annual revenue base above the $700 million mark compared with $283 million before its other two investments.

In April 2014, Bel Fuse [Jersey City, N.J.] acquired ABB Ltd.’s Power-One Power Solutions business for $117 million in cash, giving it power conversion products for server, storage and networking equipment, industrial applications and power systems. And in April the previous year, it paid $22.4 million in cash to buy the Transpower magnetics business from TE Connectivity for its integrated connector module (ICM) products for smart-grid applications.

Bel Fuse’s latest deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014 and be immediately accretive to its earnings. ECS generated revenue of approximately $83 million last year. The ECS division’s product brands include Stratos optical technologies, Johnson, Trompeter, Midwest Microwave, Semflex, Vitelec Electronics, AIM Electronics and Cambridge Products. ECS, Bannockburn, Illinois, has manufacturing facilities in North America, the U.K. and China, with a total of 525 employees worldwide.